Fabrication and characterization of suspended graphene membranes for miniature Golay cells

Elizabeth Ledwosinska; Abdeladim Guermoune; Mohamed Siaj; Thomas Szkopek

doi:10.1117/12.2008974

27 March 2013 Fabrication and characterization of suspended graphene membranes for miniature Golay cells

Elizabeth Ledwosinska, Abdeladim Guermoune, Mohamed Siaj, Thomas Szkopek

Proceedings Volume 8624, Terahertz, RF, Millimeter, and Submillimeter-Wave Technology and Applications VI; 86240U (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2008974
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2013, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

The development of miniaturized Golay cell arrays would enable the combination of the high sensitivity of a Golay cell with the imaging capability of focal plane arrays. The critical component of a miniaturized Golay cell is the deflecting membrane, which must simultaneously have a high breaking strength and a low flexural rigidity. Graphene suits this purpose ideally on account of its high strength and atomic thickness, in contrast with thicker polymeric membranes. Low flexural rigidity is critical to deflection sensitivity in response to temperature changes of the gas enclosed within a Golay cell scaled to the 10 μm to 100 μm scale. We report here a simple method for fabrication of suspended graphene membranes suitable for Golay cells. The technique is based on chemical vapour deposition of graphene on copper, followed by a sacrificial etch of the copper substrate. By this organic-free technique, graphene can be suspended over 10 - 20 μm apertures in copper thin films free of surface contamination and with high structural integrity. The cavities are sealed on the back-side with an indium film to produce proof-of-principle miniature cells with a flexible, suspended graphene membrane. Atomic force microscopy enables the force versus deflection curve of a graphene-enclosed cell to be characterized. We further report the temperature dependent equilibrium deflection (up to 60°C) of a graphene-enclosed cell by atomic force microscopy measurements taken with heat directly applied to the cell substrate.

Citation Download Citation

Elizabeth Ledwosinska, Abdeladim Guermoune, Mohamed Siaj, and Thomas Szkopek "Fabrication and characterization of suspended graphene membranes for miniature Golay cells", Proc. SPIE 8624, Terahertz, RF, Millimeter, and Submillimeter-Wave Technology and Applications VI, 86240U (27 March 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2008974

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